The original concept art for the Wolverine character by John Romita will be auctioned at Heritage later this month, marking the first time the piece of comic book history will sell publicly.
Romita, a legendary comic book artist who joined Marvel in 1965 and rose through the ranks to becoming Marvel’s art director in 1973, was asked by “Incredible Hulk” writer Len Wein to create a new character: Wolverine.
“That was all I would usually get from Stan [Lee] or other editors — they would just give me a name," Romita told Newsday in 2009. "At the time, I thought a wolverine was a female wolf!"
After referring to an encyclopedia which defined a wolverine as small, ferocious, catlike and clawed, Romita took those features and got to work. As he told Newsday: I wrote "small" on my notes, I suggested on the original sketch to make him 5-4, 5-5. I said, 'He's ferocious, and he's little,' so you make him an angry little guy."
The character would debut in The Incredible Hulk 180 in 1974 as an antagonist for the Green Goliath. From small beginnings, the character eventually rose to becoming one of the most popular characters in Marvel history, buoyed by his role in the X-Men, and more recently, his portrayal in various films by Hugh Jackman.
Inscribed and signed by Romita, the "first character sketch of Wolverine“ was later signed by Roy Thomas, Marvel’s then-editor-in-chief.
Bidding for the piece is currently at $144,000, including buyer’s premium, with two weeks remaining in the auction.
Original comic book art has taken off in recent years, achieving record prices regularly associated with the comic books themselves. The record for any piece of original comic book art was set by Frank Frazetta's 1976 painting Dark Kingdom, which sold for $6 million in 2023 — equaling the highest price paid for any comic book (Action Comics No. 1).
Other notable sales include Frank Miller and Lynn Varley’s art for Batman: The Dark Knight Returns No. 1 ($2.4 million), Mike Zeck’s art included in Marvel Super-Heroes Secret Wars No. 8 ($3.36 million) and Lee Elias’ art for the cover of Black Cat Comics No. 50 ($840,000, tying the record for original art in a horror comic.
Will Stern is a reporter and editor for cllct.